New technology allows robots to visualize their own future

UC Berkeley researchers have developed a robotic learning technology that enables robots to imagine the future of their actions so they can figure out how to manipulate objects they have never encountered before. It could help self-driving cars anticipate future events on the road and produce more intelligent robotic assistants in homes. The initial prototype focuses on learning simple manual skills entirely from autonomous play -- similar to how children can learn about their world by playing with toys, moving them around, grasping, etc. Using this technology, called visual foresight, the robots can predict what their cameras will see if they perform a particular sequence of movements. These robotic imaginations are still relatively simple for now -- predictions made only several seconds into the future -- but they are enough for the robot to figure out how to move objects around on a table without disturbing obstacles.